


Heartless

by Orcusnox (Cat9894)



Category: Deadpool (Comics), Spider-Man - All Media Types, spideypool - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-12
Updated: 2016-02-12
Packaged: 2018-05-19 22:30:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5982877
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cat9894/pseuds/Orcusnox
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>People who have a hole in their chest where their heart should be make great villains. Deadpool is one of them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Heartless

    Wade Wilson didn’t have a heart. There was a hole in his chest the size of both his fists, achingly empty. His lack of a heart was not a secret – Wade died enough that someone was bound to catch sight of his empty chest. Plus, he'd never been shy about the fact that he was missing it.

    This time round, it had been Tony Stark, Ironman. The hero kept his heart on display, the damaged muscle still beating strong despite what it had gone through.

    Stark wanted to ask. They always did. But more often than not, they left it alone. Because a heartless Deadpool made sense.

 

* * *

* * *

 

 

    Peter Parker didn’t have a heart. There was a hole in his chest the size of both his fists, achingly empty. His lack of a heart was a secret – no one knew Spiderman was heartless. People, of course, knew _Peter_ was heartless, even if most of them didn’t know _why_.

    He wrapped cling wrap around his chest to hide the hole when he was in his suit. He’d tried other materials, but cling wrap worked best, thin enough that people couldn’t see it beneath the suit. It gave a little more, acted a little more like skin when touched.

 

* * *

* * *

 

 

    Wade’s heart had been destroyed. The ‘doctors’ in the Weapon X program had wanted to see how many times Wade’s heart could heal before it gave out. They wanted to see if a heart could heal indefinitely, or if there was a limit to the amount of damage it could take before the healing factor simply stopped.

    The answer was 1,487 breaks.

 

* * *

* * *

 

 

    Peter’s heart sat in a special box on Gwen’s grave. He hadn’t opened the box in four months – he was sure his heart was still cracked and bleeding, the trauma of losing his first love still fresh. He didn’t worry about anyone trying to steal it, because he kept the only key on a chain around his neck.

    He never went anywhere without it.

 

* * *

* * *

 

 

    It was inevitable that the mercenary and the hero would meet and clash. Peter disapproved of Wade’s job, Wade disapproved of Peter’s naivety, and the two were generally convinced they would never like each other. It made matters worse when Wade’s mouth began to run, and he told Peter that he’d never understand Wade because to people with hearts, the heartless were the scum of the earth.

    Peter froze, thinking of his heart stored away in a box. “What did you say?” he asked.

    “You heard me! You think just because you have a muscle in your chest, it makes you better than the likes of me! Guess what, Spidey? You don’t know anything about me!”

    “And you don’t know anything about me!” Peter shouted back.

 

* * *

* * *

 

 

    It took another few months for the two of them to warm up to each other. Eventually, though, Wade apologized for his temper tantrum – although he still maintained that he was right – in the only way he seemed to know how: by flirting with and harassing Peter until he agreed to have tacos with Wade.

    The conversation was, at first, stilted, neither quite comfortable with letting their tongues loose after what happened the first time. But they quickly realized that they had similar tastes in certain things that made the conversation flow faster and faster until both of them hardly took a breath.

 

* * *

* * *

 

 

    Peter gasped in pain, limping down the alley as fast as he could. Venom had managed to break some ribs this time, and Peter was having difficulty breathing. He couldn’t swing back to his apartment – his left arm was dangling out of its socket, absolutely useless.

    He needed help. And he had precious few people to call upon during times like this. The Avengers were an option – but Peter didn’t trust them not to reveal his identity to SHIELD. Harry wasn’t an option anymore – even if he didn’t remember what he’d done, Peter didn’t, couldn’t trust him anymore.

    He pulled out his phone and speed dialled the only other person he could think of. When they picked up, Peter didn’t let them say a word.

    “I need help,” he panted, leaning heavily against the wall.

    “Where are you?” the person on the other end replied.

    And Peter told Wade exactly where he was.

 

* * *

* * *

 

 

    [This doesn’t look good.]

    {I’m seeing a whole lot of broken bones.}

    [Dislocated shoulder. He’ll be happy he’s unconscious for this part.]

    “Not for long,” Wade muttered in response, grimly taking hold of Spidey’s arm. He wrenched it back into place, and the smaller man burst back into consciousness with a thin, high noise. “Ssh,” Wade said softly. “I’m sorry, baby boy, but we had to fix that up real quick. Where else hurts?”

    Spidey moaned. “Ribs. Head. _Everywhere_.”

    [This is not good.]

    {His healing factor sucks _balls_.}

    [We have to take him back to our place.]

    “Spidey,” Wade said. “I’m going to take you back to my apartment, alright?” But the hero was already unconscious again.

    {Ten bucks says he’s not going to be happy when he wakes up!}

 

* * *

* * *

 

 

    Spiderman had never shown Wade his face. But that was okay, because they hadn’t known each other for too long and Wade wasn’t exactly the best secret keeper around. So Wade made a point to _not_ take off the other man’s mask, especially when he couldn’t see or feel any damage to Spidey’s head.

    He didn’t hesitate to cut off Spidey’s shirt to have a look at his ribs. Spidey, oddly, had cling wrap wrapped around his chest. Had the hero been injured when he started to fight? Wade swore, carefully running his hands over Spidey’s torso, avoiding the empty hole in the left side of his chest.

    [Back up a minute there, cowboy!]

    { _Empty_ hole?!}

    Wade paused, blinking down at the gaping hole – it was more like a wound, really – where Spidey’s huge, amazing heart was supposed to be.

    [Holy shit.]

    {Spidey’s heartless?!}

    [Oh no. We…]

    “We said he’d never understand,” Wade said softly. “I said ‘Heartless people are _made_ to be villains, Spidey. _Especially_ the ones who tear out their own hearts’.”

    {That… looks an awful lot like Spidey tore his own heart out.}

    [No wonder he got so angry.]

    {Oh man. We hurt him so bad.}

    “Yeah,” Wade said, staring at the masked hero. “Yeah,” he repeated.

 

* * *

* * *

 

 

    The night Gwen died, Peter had been half mad with grief. It was the only explanation he had for doing what he did.

    The moment Gwen’s heart stopped beating, Peter had ripped his own out, trying to press his heart into Gwen’s chest to keep her alive.

 

* * *

* * *

 

 

    Wade was sitting with him when he woke up. Peter blinked at him a few times, mind still hazy with sleep and pain, before offering him a slow smile.

    “Hey,” he croaked.

    “Hey yourself,” Wade replied. “I didn’t take off your mask, so I’m assuming you’re smiling at me. I’m hoping, anyway.”

    Peter laughed before clutching his ribs. “Right,” he gasped. “No laughing.”

    And that was when he realized that he didn’t have a shirt on. His entire upper body was bare – even the cling wrap had been removed.

    “A couple of your ribs were broken – they might still be tender, but they’re mostly healed,” Wade said. “You’ve been asleep for a few days.”

    Wade hadn’t said anything about the hole in his chest. Peter knew the mercenary had seen it, knew Wade had to know that he’d done it to himself. But he hadn’t said anything.

    Peter cleared his throat. “Thank you.” _For saving me. For taking care of me. For not asking me about my heart._

    “You’re welcome,” Wade replied, and Peter knew he’d heard every unspoken word.

 

* * *

* * *

 

 

    Eventually, the two of them shared their stories, but not before the Avengers caught wind of their friendship and brought Peter in for a ‘chat’.

    “He’s dangerous.”

    “Absolutely insane.”

    “He _kills_ people. For money.”

    “He’s unstable.”

    “He doesn’t have a heart.”

    “He’s heartless.”

    “You can’t trust someone who doesn’t have a heart, Spiderman.”

    And Peter just… snapped.

    “Do you trust me?” he demanded, every inch of body drawn tight. The gathered Avengers – Captain America, Ironman, Black Widow and Hawkeye – blinked at him. “Do you trust _me_?” he asked again.

    “Of course,” Steve replied.

    “Why?”

    “Because you’re a good man,” Tony said.

    “You’re one of the truly good people in this city,” Natasha agreed.

    Peter folded his arms. “I don’t have a heart. I ripped it out of my chest when I was eighteen.” The room was silent, the Avengers staring at him with various shades of disbelief. “I can prove it, if you want.” And he ripped up his shirt, revealing the gaping wound that still ached. He shoved the shirt back down. “Do you still trust me? Because, going by your logic, you really shouldn’t.”

    “It’s different,” Tony argued, the first to recover. “You’ve done good things –”

    “And I’ve done bad things,” Peter snapped. “You don’t know _me_. You don’t know who I am beneath the mask. You don’t know Wade, so don’t you try and tell me that he’s bad news.”

    “He has _killed_ people,” Steve said.

    “So have _I_!” Peter shouted. “So have you! All of you! By mistake, on purpose… Why does it matter that Wade doesn’t have a heart? Heartless people do bad things because that’s all they’re told they can do! ‘You can’t trust a heartless person’.” Peter snorted. “You can, as long as you don’t know they’re heartless, apparently.” Peter gave a slow, sarcastic round of applause.

    “Spiderman,” Natasha began, her eyes flickering to Clint, who hadn’t said anything.

    “No. I’ve had enough. You guys are _heroes_. You’re supposed to be the bigger man. You're supposed to give people a _chance_. This kind of reasoning for hating someone… It’s lazy. And wrong. You’ve disappointed me… You’ve disappointed Wade. Do you have any idea how much that man looks up to you? _Especially_ you, Cap.” Peter shook his head.

    He meant to keep going, because he was nowhere near finished, but a hand fell on his shoulder and he whipped his head around in surprise. There were very few people who could sneak up on him.

    “That’s enough, Spidey,” Wade said softly, squeezing Peter’s shoulder. “I came up here to see what was taking you so long – never thought you’d be reaming out the Avengers.” He chuckled. “The boxes were having a blast listening to you.”

    “I didn’t even get to the good bits,” Peter grumbled. “I had some quality material lined up.”

    “I’m sure you did,” Wade agreed. “But we should go. I heard they opened up a new taco place!”

    Wade pulled him from the room, rambling on about the holiness of tacos and that whoever made them was automatically a saint. Peter stepped into the lift and stared at the Avengers until the doors closed over.

 

* * *

* * *

 

 

    Peter took the chain off, staring down at the key that he had sworn never to use again. “Hey Gwen,” he said softly, kneeling by the silent grave. “I know I said it was all yours, always. But there’s this guy I know. And I think he needs it more than you right now. I know you wouldn’t mind.”

    Carefully, he unlocked the box and peeked at his heart. “Well,” he muttered, “it’s in better condition than I expected. Thanks for looking after it, Gwen.”

    Peter picked up his heart, staring at it for a moment before returning his attention to Gwen’s tombstone. “I’ll bring him to meet you. I promise.” He stood back up, holding his heart in hesitant hands and staring at it. It was average in size, the wound he remembered having healed into a thin scar. It beat steadily in his palms, and the hole in his chest echoed the beats.

    He hoped Wade wanted it.

**Author's Note:**

> Another Spideypool fic! Huzzah!
> 
> (I'm in deep, Spideypool to the moon and back and then to Pluto and then on wards and upwards!)
> 
> *dies*


End file.
